The StickMonkey says aloha oe to a blast from his not-so-distant past

It was announced today that the remaining 300 U.S. Blockbuster video rental stores will be shut down by early January 2014, and the company will discontinue its DVD by mail service even sooner.

At its apex in 2004, Blockbuster boasted nearly 9,000 locations. Then along came Netflix, which disrupted the requirement to go somewhere to get a DVD because you could have them delivered to your home via the mail. The last nail in the coffin was the huge swing to streaming video.

By 2011, Blockbuster was bankrupt.

You have to wonder what’s going to fill up all those empty Blockbuster stores in shopping malls across the country. You also have to wonder what other companies will soon go the way of Blockbuster because they are sitting smug and comfortably in their brick and mortar castles refusing to believe that consumers will abandon them in favor of having things delivered.